


One Kiss, Please

by dontlookback



Series: Mayward Week 2020 [2]
Category: Outer Banks (TV)
Genre: ... i wrote a coffee shop au, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fake dating for like two minutes, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, i did not reread/write so sorry for any typos or stupid mistakes, kind of?? sort of, lots of fluff!!, they're aged up (uni age) for this but it's not super relevant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26838547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontlookback/pseuds/dontlookback
Summary: Mayward Week 2020, Prompt 2: "Why are you whispering?" + auJJ has a crush on the cute barista, because, really… how could he not?
Relationships: JJ/Pope (Outer Banks)
Series: Mayward Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945528
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	One Kiss, Please

“JJ, we really don’t have the time for this,” Kie complained as JJ tugged her along through the crowd of people.

“ _You_ wanted proof! It’s now or never,” JJ said cheerfully. His plan was doomed to fail, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the process. And if, by some miracle, he would actually _succeed_ , he would get Kie off his back for a while.

JJ loved Kie, of course, but if he had to sit through another one of her speeches about how he needed to ‘give people more of a chance, even if it was difficult for him to trust’… he wasn’t sure he would survive. It was the reason he hadn’t told Kie about the breakup, yet – if breaking something off after two dates could even be called a breakup. If she knew he said no to a third date, she’d definitely launch into one of her rants again.

She meant it well, JJ knew. He was also vaguely aware of his own issues when it came to long term relationships, but he didn’t think it mattered. Most people their age didn’t date seriously, and JJ had no real desire to do so.

“This is it,” JJ motioned to the building on their side, where a coffee shop sat between two clothing stores. It was on the smaller side, and the sign that hung outside was so battered you could barely read the name from it, but it was still clearly taken care of.

JJ stepped in, Kie following swiftly. The inside was pretty much what you would expect when looking at the outside; old, clearly, with exposed brick walls and mix-matched tables and chairs that had been collected over the years, but clean and bright. Sunbeams lit the place up through large windows.

JJ automatically walked to the right, where his favourite seat by the window was still, by some sort of miracle, unoccupied. He spent a lot of time in this here, and the hours had only gotten longer since _that boy_ had started working here. The new barista, with the unfairly pretty eyes.

It’s not like JJ was in love with him, or anything. He didn’t even know the boy’s name – you could hardly be in love with someone you didn’t know by name, let alone know anything else about. But JJ did know this: the boy, the barista, however he referred to him in his mind, was simply stunning. JJ had, without meaning to or realising it, locked away the days – and roughly the times – the boy worked, just so he could time his visits right.

It was embarrassing, really.

“So, which one is it?” Kie said, leaning over the table on her elbows as she looked around the room. JJ looked, too, and found their target standing behind the counter as usual.

He hadn’t told Kie about his crush. Kie would do what any good friend would do and convince him to make a move, which JJ normally wouldn’t be opposed to, but in this situation… It didn’t feel right. If anyone had smiled at him the way Pope sometimes did, in another scenario, he would’ve gone for it. But this? Pope was just doing his job, here. There was no reason for him _not_ to be friendly, and so his kind smile didn’t say anything.

“The one behind the counter. With the blue shirt.”

Kie wasn’t exactly subtle as she locked her eyes on the boy, but she clearly wasn’t _trying_ to be. After a minute or so, she looked back at JJ. There was a glint in her eyes. “He’s cute.”

“I know,” JJ replied honestly. He glanced at the boy again.

“So, what’s his name?”

JJ blinked, considering whether he should make up a name on the spot. “Secret. I have to keep some of the mystery up, Kie,” he decided against it. He didn’t know the boy’s name for a reason – he couldn’t ask for it without giving himself away, and he hadn’t caught anyone saying the name, so far. But what if one of the boy’s co-workers decided that it was the perfect time to call out his name? Kie would know he was lying immediately.

Now, she just raised an eyebrow. “Really? Not even a name?”

“Nope.”

“I could just ask him for it when I order, you know.”

JJ hadn’t thought of that. “Then I’ll just go and order for the both of us. What do you want?”

He was about to stand up, but Kie took the menu from the little stand on the table and looked at it intently. “I haven’t decided, yet,” Kie said. JJ had the feeling it was just to buy herself more time to ask questions, and his suspicions were confirmed a second later. “How did you two meet, again?”

“No way special. You know I come here a lot – he started working here a few weeks ago.” Technically, none of that was a lie.

Kie still seemed to take it as one, raising her eyes from the menu. “So you two are dating, now? Officially?”

“Yes.” _That_ was a lie.

“And he’s cute.”

JJ scoffed at that. “I told you so, didn’t I?”

“Sure, but if he’s really your boyfriend, you could’ve just been prejudiced.”

“Well, I’m not, he’s–” He paused. “Wait, what do you mean, ‘ _if_ he’s really your boyfriend’?”

Kie shot him a pointed look. “C’mon. I know you, don’t I? You usually tell me everything, and now you won’t tell me your boyfriend’s name? I know more about your hook-ups than I know about your _boyfriend of three weeks_. John B said you hadn’t told him anything, either. It doesn’t make any sense, unless it’s a lie.”

The worst part was how absolutely spot-on Kie had deciphered the situation. Logically, JJ knew the truth would come out sooner or later, and logically, he knew that it was probably a good thing. He didn’t like lying to Kie.

Still, he wasn’t about to just _admit_ to it.

With an offended noise, he got up. He didn’t say anything, but he shot Kie a look that said _watch me prove you wrong_. As he walked away, he heard Kie say something about getting them to-go cups, because they were already late for their lectures, but he didn’t respond.

It wasn’t until he was stood at the counter, eye-to-eye with the cute boy, that he realised he had absolutely no plan – but he would wing it. If there was anything he was good at, it was bullshitting himself out of unfortunate situations.

“What can I get you?”

JJ blinked at sweet smile on the boy’s lips, and an idea sparked. A bad one, sure, but – what did he have to loose, really? He tried not to let himself think of an answer to that question. “I’d like two iced coffees, both to go, two muffins, and–” He dropped his voice down to a whisper. “–one kiss, please.”

He watched the boy’s hands still from where he had been writing down the order; watched the boy blink as he looked up to meet JJ’s gaze again. Matching JJ’s low tone, he said, “Uh… sorry?”

JJ grinned. He was so screwed. “Okay, here’s the situation. I need you to kiss me.”

The boy just looked at him, eyes wide. JJ was counting on having to answer some questions, but the one he got wasn’t what he expected. “Why are we whispering?”

“That girl over there,” JJ didn’t point, just hoped Kie was still unsubtly staring so the boy would know who he was talking about, “is my best friend, and I stopped her from prying by saying I was dating you, but she doesn’t believe me, so I need you to kiss me. If you don’t mind helping a poor guy out?” When he was met with more silence, he added, sheepishly, “I swear I brushed my teeth this morning.”

The boy did something JJ wasn’t expecting – he laughed softly, just for a moment, and although he still locked shocked, he nodded slightly. “Okay. Yes, okay.” He repeated the word at least five more times, as if convincing himself, and then suddenly leaned forward over the counter and locked their lips.

JJ forgot, instantly, that this was all just to cover up some lies, and he melted into the kiss, going to stand on his tippy toes to get closer, with the stupid counter in the way. Instinctively, he reached up to cup the boy’s cheeks, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingers. He could feel the even softer lips smile into the kiss, as if they’d done this a thousand times before.

The kiss lasted a few seconds, which felt like hours and was somehow still much too short. They broke apart – or rather, the boy pulled away from him, startled – when a voice near them broke through the white noise in JJ’s ears. “Pope. _Pope!_ As much as I love it for you that you’re gettin’ some action, maybe not in front of the costumers?”

JJ blinked his eyes open to see that it was one of the boy’s co-workers. It was probably for the best that they had been interrupted, but that didn’t stop JJ from feeling bummed about it. He could still feel his lips tingle.

_Pope._

Pope laughed off the co-workers comment, a dark blush spreading across his cheeks, but he didn’t look away from JJ.

JJ didn’t look away, either, until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Kie was standing beside him, expression unreadable but not unkind. “Okay, okay, fine. I take back what I said.”

“You better!”

“I take back what I said _about this_ , but I won’t take back what I said about being late. We were supposed to be in class five minutes ago, so I’m sure you can postpone the making out?”

JJ wasn’t sure he could, but Kie seemed determined to get them to class as she walked off to grab her bag from where it said on their table.

“I, uh, I guess I have to go,” JJ said. The words tasted painful, but Pope just smiled again, and it sparked his confidence up again. “Do you – if we never see each other again, she’ll definitely think I’m lying, again. Do you want to grab coffee, sometime? I know a great place.”

JJ bit his lip in anticipation. What if Pope said no? Or worse, what if he said yes, but thought JJ meant to just hang out, as friends?

“I don’t usually go on dates with people I don’t know the names of,” Pope said, without hesitation, and just like that, JJ’s worries disappeared.

“It’s JJ.”

There was a short silence, but not an uncomfortable one – they were both smiling.

“Okay, _JJ_. My day ends at seven.”

**Author's Note:**

> it's real cute, huh, how i still think i'll be able to post for all the prompts? wish me luck lads, or come talk to me on tumblr if you want! @the-pogues
> 
> find more about mayward week on tumblr as well! @maywardweek2020
> 
> hope you enjoyed <3


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